KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — Malaysian drug addicts now include professionals like lawyers, bankers, and businessmen who consume narcotics before and after work, said a group that operates voluntary rehab centres.

Pengasih Malaysia founder and chairman Datuk Mohd Yunus Pathi said drug addicts today are unhappy people who are disappointed with their life and want success and feelings of joy.

Mohd Yunus reportedly said this was unlike 10 to 15 years ago, when drug addicts preferred heroin and resorted to drugs to numb their distress over issues such as poverty, unemployment, divorce and low self-esteem.

"Drug users nowadays are people who crave success. They’re drawn to crystal methamphetamine because it makes them feel more motivated, alert, energetic and confident. We’ve lawyers, bankers, businessmen and even pilots coming to Pengasih. The drug users of today aren’t losers. That’s the biggest misconception the public has.

"These days, you don’t see addicts huddled in Chow Kit because the new generation of drug users are getting their fix in hotels or at home. And compared to those days, it’s so much easier today to get a steady supply of drugs with messaging services like WeChat and WhatsApp,” he was quoted saying by local daily The Star.

According to The Star, at least 60 per cent of those who go to Pengasih’s drug rehab centres are professionals, saying that they typically use drugs with the intention of becoming successful in their careers, and in the end need a fix both before and after work.

Pengasih has successfully helped 60 per cent to 65 per cent of the 4,000 people who went through rehab at its centres quit their addiction.

The Star also quoted National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) as saying that a study last year of 12,362 former drug addicts in Malaysia found that 60.2 per cent were successfully rehabilitated, while 4,919 or 39.8 per cent relapsed after rehabilitation.

AADK enforcement and security director Zainudin Abdullah was reported saying that drug traffickers are now using social media apps to promote drugs and to sell them under the guise of health supplements.

Zainudin said drug traffickers currently connect with their buyers online and deliver the drugs in person or leave them at a designated place after payment is made to a third person’s bank account, noting that these details are done through apps such as WhatsApp and WeChat.

Zainudin said drug traffickers are also recruiting primary and secondary school students who have disciplinary issues, are inactive in school or come from poor families to be drug pushers.

"These kids take orders well and don’t ask for much money. They’re cheap labour,” he was quoted saying by The Star, adding that it is also harder for the authorities to trace drug pushing done through children and that enforcement would also be subject to child-related regulations.

Zainudin said those targeted as fresh recruits to sell drugs also include college and university students who want branded goods and pricey vacations, school leavers, unemployed dropouts or those mixing with the wrong crowd.

Royal Malaysian Customs Department director-general Datuk Subramaniam Tholasy was also reported by The Star as revealing that smugglers bring drugs into Malaysia through methods such as mail, express parcels, sea cargo, compartments in bags.

With drugs valued at RM119.66 million confiscated from 2015 to February 2017, the Customs Department will be beefing up enforcement at the country’s entry and exit points and will strengthen risk assessment of passengers and cargo, The Star reported.